Saturday, August 3, 2013

Predictions: Crew (A) v Dynamo

The Columbus Crew travel down to BBVA Compass Stadium today to take on the Houston Dynamo. Game start is 9 PM EST.

NOTES
-CLB: Lost 6 of last 8. Worst form in MLS.
-CLB: Ownership change last week.
-CLB: Lost 4 straight away.
-HOU: Will Bruin back from USMNT duty.
-HOU: 2-2-2 in last six. Average
-HOU: Fighting to keep playoff pace.

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PREDICTIONS
(In no particular order)

1. WV HOOLIGAN ... HOUSTON
"The Crew have been dreadful to watch as of late... Houston should control this one fairly easily." -Drew Epperley. He has the final score at 2:0 to the Dynamo.

2. HOME TEAM ... HOUSTON

3. WINDRAWWIN.COM ... HOUSTON
Large stake on a 1:0 Home win. Dynamo also getting 56% of the "Your Vote" while the Crew only pull 12%.

4. MLSSOCCER.COM ... HOUSTON
The team over there likes the Dynamo, 5 of the 6 votes went there. Only one Draw pick coming from Kristel Valencia, FutbolMLS Editor in Chief. Kristel is trailing everyone in pick accuracy (39%). Matt Doyle "Armchair Analyst" is most accurate at 47%.

5. GOAL.COM ... HOUSTON
Avi Creditor graces the one line summary this week: "The Dynamo have fallen out of the Eastern Conference's playoff places but can make headway with a home win over a Columbus side that was just sold to new ownership." Further own down the page we see that only a few fans have selected a winner but those that did go Houston.

6. TABLE POSITION ... HOUSTON

7. BET365.COM ... HOUSTON
Dynamo getting better than even odds this week at 4/5 (Draw 12/5, Crew 18/5). Scorelines are a little different this week. 11/2 for 1:0 Houston... 2:0 is at 7/1... 15/2 2:1 next up.

8. COLUMBUS DISPATCH ... LEAN, HOUSTON
Pick up the Dispatch today, Jardy talks about the impact of Precourt on today's match in his game preview, "...unless Precourt can provide a steadying presence during the final minutes of games, it is unlikely that the transition will have much impact on this one."

------------------MY THOUGHTS
We are on the backside of the MLS season so results start to become slightly more predictable. While Houston should be favored, I don't think they are world beaters. In fact, they are pretty average this year to date.

Houston is actually up against the wall a bit with the New England Revs battling them out for a playoff spot. The 'must wins' are over for the Crew, they are not for the Dynamo.

The Crew? The Crew.

The Crew are in a bit of no-man's land right now. The ownership handover desert, as it were. It reminds me of a wonderful part of a wonderful Uncharted 3 video game.

About midway through the game writer Amy Hennig along with designers Richard Lemarchand and Jacob Minkoff of Naughty Dog (the game makers) have you crash landing in the desert. No instructions, no direction, no nothing. Only sand for as far you can see in every direction.

I've mentioned here before that I have been through a few ownership changes (buyout/mergers). More recently on the side doing the buying past couple times but not long ago was on the other side. There is so much uncertainty. Rumors, backstabbing, tears, broken friendships, rubber burned in the parking lot...

I was the only employee from the floor retained when the company was bought out in a merger years ago. I didn't know it at the time but looking back I see that in a lot of ways it was like Nathan Drake in the middle of the desert.

Real or fake, bizarre video game blogger metaphor or actual situation... life really simplifies things for you when you are in that spot. You really only have two options.